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Talk:Dissertation
To start a new discussion topic just click on the + sign above. Add the new subject (question) and answer it in the body (if you have an answer or want to make a comment. It is good practice in this case to add your name in parenthesis so that we know who asked the question. If you want to reply or simply to any question or edit your comments, click on 'edit' above (for the whole page) or on the 'edit' next to the question (for that question only). You'll get the hang of it. Remember that you can edit your comments (and those of others) at any time. It is also good practice to sign in so that you know who has been making changes. What is a 'research question' (RQ) and why is it so important? After selecting your dissertation topic, the RQ is the most important part of your dissertation in terms of getting started. It guides your progress throughout the process of researching and writing the dissertation. You can think of it as the engine that drives the dissertation - it determines the type of literature you will review, the type of data you will analyse, the introduction that you write, and the conclusion that you reach. The RQ is the reason why you write the dissertation - to find out the answer to it! Another way of thinking about it is that the RQ takes you on a journey - and that journey is the dissertation! When you start, you should not know the final destination. --Davidlewis 11:00, 6 January 2009 (UTC) Using some SA452 lecture readings as a 'jumping off' point for the dissertation (David) Something that I would strongly advise is to use one of the core course lectures as a 'jumping off' point for your dissertation idea. The lectures are designed to provide an overview of the main key themes in social policy and development, so should help provide the context and conceptual framework into which your dissertation topic and question will fit. Each lecture will also provide some basic readings on your topic that will help you to get your literature review started. --Davidlewis 11:02, 6 January 2009 (UTC) Some useful questions on aid, social integration, and reading Helloo everyone...I am sure you are all excited about the end of term but before that we have an exam (though nothing to worry as it is only MOCK, but as I have reluctantly started preparing for it, I am actually finding it a v useful way of revising all that we have studies in the last ten weeks!!) After receiving David's advice (which was v useful and thanks for that), I intend to attempt the exam by immediately engaging with the exact question, hopefully in a very focused way. Though, I have a few more questions about the methodology of attempting the exam and I sure David and of course you all would be happy to answer/comment:-. B. 1. Is it always important to define the core concepts emanating from the question (e.g. difference btw theory & practice) If so, can we come up with our own definitions or is it important to quote certain authors? from David: From your reading is best ... then you can comment from your own ideas on these definitions. 2. While answering a question, are we advised to keep referring to the readings? Personally, I always like to give my own views about whatever is being discussed and do not enjoy reproducing whatever was there in the reading...its kind of restricting!! from David: Yes, the readings are what you should use as the building blocks of your answer. If it was just your opinions, then what would be the value of doing the course, and being exposed to new material? Your views on the readings are very much valued by us. 3. This question is not related to the exam but a conceptual clarification, what is the difference btw social integration and social protection and what possible indicators can be used to measure them? from David: Social integration is a broad objective for social policy; social protection is a term given to types of policies designed to protect vulnerable people from the ups and downs of the market or attempts to reform institutions ... PS: By the way, I am still waiting for a response to my previous question on foreign aid!!! David: ok, where is it? Dear all, It feels good to be communicating with you all through this wiki. The question that I would like to pose to you all is not necessarily linked with my dissertation, but with my upcoming presentation on foreign aid, early next week. I strongly believe that all individuals, societies and countries in the world should strive for self reliance be it in terms of economic growth, human or social sector development, political stability and democratization. Although, most of the foreign aid by international Donors largely revolves around these central objectives, it does not have an inherent design to gradually minimize the dependencies of the aid receipent countries and make them self sufficient. I am not sure if it is part of the international politics or a planning defecit? Food for thought... Regards, Bushra David: Foreign aid is a complex subject, and I think most people would agree that while some aid has been successful (the Marshall Plan, EU aid to Ireland in the 1990s, IFAD funding of Grameen Bank in the 1980s), aid has generally been poorly thought out in terms of its impacts and effects. Aid needs to be categorised into different types and different objectives, only then can be have meaningful discussions. Some aid is mainly political in its aims and therefore its sustainability is not really considered; but in my view you are correct when you say that 'bureaucratic failure' is often the reason why sustainability objectives in more genuine forms of development aid are often neglected. ps hope your presentation went well! --Davidlewis 11:01, 6 January 2009 (UTC) Add your thoughts ... ? Dissertation topic & RQ This is a good place to explore possible topics and research questions. Getting a topic is not difficult, but formulating a RQ is a bit more tricky. For example, if you are interested in the topic of participatory forest management in India, a suitable research question might be: "What factors have contributed to the rise of participatory forest management and with what results for poor people?" This would allow you to explore (a) general literature on the history of FM, (b) review literature on different views on the concept of participation, and © to look specifically at one more successful and one less successful case study on PFM in India, analyse the cases in relation to impacts on local communities, and then draw conclusions. more ... -- Hello! I'm new to this wiki thing but I hope I'm writing at the right place.. So the vacations have just started. I still don't feel refreshed after one week of it :p I started reading for the RD essay and soon realised there is a Dissertation topic to think of and also a Project Planning Essay to think of! Anyway sticking to the topic.. "Dissertation topic & RQ". I'm interested in the topic of technology for the poor.. I'm not thinking about scientific researches like GR or GMO but more like internet for the poor or mobile marketing/banking, or use of distant education techniques. I'm not sure if I even have a viable topic there related to Social Policy (which was stressed again and again in all the talks about Dissertation writing) let alone a question. Any thoughts? -Ashima (haven't been able to figure out the signature thing! :o ) The signature is just a button in the edit menu ... last but one on the right. --Davidlewis 17:55, December 19, 2009 (UTC) It if often useful to start with a question, rather than a topic. For example, 'do we pay enough attention to technology as a contributor ro poverty reduction, or too much attention?'. We used to be optimistic about the role of technology, then we became pessimistic. Why? Is now a good time to revisit the subject and bring social development people and technology people together? (By the way, almost everything can be made to be about social policy in my view). Thanks for trying out the Wiki! --Davidlewis 17:55, December 19, 2009 (UTC) I was thinking more in terms of looking at a particular project and link it with some concept. Say the spread of telecenters ( I was thinking about looking at Drishtee.com in India) and how it is helping in promoting rural livelihoods both within agriculture as well as in the non-farm sector. Or e-governance initiatives like online land titling (Bhoomi in Kerela, India) but then again that is linked to telecenters because you may have the provision of information through e-governance portals but access to them is still largely dependent on telecenters or information kiosks. But this sounds more connected to 'development', I still don't know how to connect it to 'social policy'. Can policy implications be that public-private partnerships are required for providing better coverage, government needs to have initiatives to provide information through digital media and private sector (or social enterprises (CS?)) can facilitate access to that information by developing telecentres and also develop local capacity. Also as more and more aid is now going as budget support, the government has to drive the initiative, governments can provide incentives to private sector to enter in this field. Ashima.goyal 11:01, January 20, 2010 (UTC) What you need now is a question, since you have an interesting topic. The question should not be 'future-oriented', such as 'can this or that happen?', but one that asks why or how something happened, so that you can examine some data. Such as 'have Indian telecenters lived up to their initial promise in assisting with social development?', or 'has government support to TC's translated into real benefits for poor people?' ... The work of Dr Shirin Madon at LSE might be worth looking at here. 11:10, January 20, 2010 (UTC) Revising for the SA452 exam: Some advice (please ignore this until March 2010!) We will give you detailed advice about preparing for the exams next term - in the meantime, for those of you who are already thinking about this, here are a few tips: 1. Revise all your lecture/seminar notes for SA452 - you will need to know the basic general content of all topics. (This is important because material from one lecture can also be relevant when responding to other lecture topics - you should not separate topics off from each other too much). 2. Having said that, you should then choose a much smaller number of particular topics for detailed revision - to specialise for you exam answers (I'd say say 5 or 6 of these is a good number, you can never predict exactly which topics will come up). Those you presented on in seminars would be good ones to include. 3. It is a good idea to practice writing some timed mock exam essays at home - use an alarm clock to get a sense of what one hour feels like when you write. Practice writing an exam answer from a past paper on one or two of your chosen topics. This will also gradually help you speed up your handwriting skills. If you want, I will take a look if you bring practice essays to office hour. 4. Remember that SA452 has a compulsory question 1 on general social policy ideas and concepts - so make sure you know lectures 1-3 particularly well. (OK, you can ignore this for now ...!) A useful question from J: 'What is the difference between an "Academic paper" and a "White paper"?' While I was doing my final essay for the Rural Development I found that the DFID says that they published in 1997: "The White Paper on International Development" Should I care more about certain types of papers? Are there different types of papers? How many and what are the difference between these? Thanks, J Thanks, this is an interesting question ... A White Paper is a UK government policy document, setting out a new policy by the government. It is a form of what academics often call 'grey literature' (as opposed to 'research literature', which is academic articles and books). Other forms of 'grey literature' include project evaluation reports, World Bank country reports, field reports by NGOs, etc etc. Grey literature is useful to researchers because it may be (a) up to more date than published academic research, and (b) may be very relevant to policy; but it has some important disadvantages too - it may be self-serving rather than 'objective', and it is unlikely to be peer-reviewed the way academic papers are. A good dissertation recognises and uses these different kinds of literatures to get the best from them. While academic literature should form the foundation of a dissertation (particularly for the Chapter 2 'literature review'), 'grey literature' can be useful as a good source of case study material and/or up to date or recent data (particularly for your Chapter 3). --Davidlewis 11:02, 6 January 2009 (UTC) What is the Academic Definition between a Developed and a Developing Country? I would like to know the academic definition between a Developed and a Developing Country? David This is a good question and a difficult one. There is no precise academic definition as far as I know. This is from the OECD web-site: There is no established convention for the designation of “developed” and “developing” countries or areas in the United Nations system. In common practice, Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in northern America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania and Europe are considered “developed” regions or areas. In international trade statistics, the Southern African Customs Union is also treated as developed region and Israel as a developed country; countries emerging from the former Yugoslavia are treated as developing countries; and countries of Eastern Europe and the former USSR countries in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions. Source Publication: United Nations. Standard country or Area Codes for Statistical Use. Series M, No. 49, Rev. 4 (United Nations publication, Sales No. M.98.XVII.9). Available in part at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm. My view is that we should not use these terms, 'developed' is a subjective judgement. When Gandhi was asked what he thought of British civilization, he answered 'it would be a good idea'! John Gaventa talks about 'Souths in the North' (areas of the US Appalachians) and 'Norths in the South' (elite rich areas of Latin American cities). It is perhaps better to talk about 'low income countries', 'aid-recipient countries', 'middle income countries', etc. --Davidlewis 11:13, 5 February 2009 (UTC) I would like to the related question to this. What is it meant by 'the West'? Some readings regards developed countries as the West. As OECD included, Japan is thought as a developed nation in many articles. From the geographic point of view, Japan cannot be said as the western nation. In some points, we share the idea with North America and Western European countries especially in terms of Economic policies; however, the cultural aspects are different and I see it affects the welfare state system, which is not categorised by either American, Scandinanian or Continental European way. If somebody uses the term 'West' inclusively, does it mean the shared norm among nations against the former Soviet Union in the context of Cold War? Regards, Kana The concept of agency While I was reviewing some literature on participation and empowerment, one term that I came across numerous times was that of 'agency'...'agency' for resource mobilization, 'agency' for sustainability and acheivement etc. I am not quite sure as to what this term exactly means, will be grateful for a definition/explanation of the term. Regards, B. Good question - it means people's capacity to take action, and in social sciences is usually contrasted with the idea of 'structure', which is what helps determine or constrain people's ability to act. Basically we need to understand both agency and structure in any situation ... e.g. a person working in an NGO has agency to make decisions and do things, but at the same times is constrained/facilitated by structures of rules, laws and hierarchies of authority. A poor person has agency to improve their life, but only within a complex set of structures. If you change structures, you can increase people's ability (agency) to act positively. If you empower people, you increase their agency, but this may not be useful unless structures are also changed. Anthony Giddens is a key social scientist to read on agency/structure issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Giddens --Davidlewis 11:51, 21 March 2009 (UTC) Thank you for the question and answer. I come up with the idea of principal-agent theory... Do we have to think about the phenomenon seperately? It is still difficult for me to apply the theories of Political Science in the context of Social Policy in developing countries. For example, can we say government of Kenya as a principal and DFID as a agent and there is a fear that arbitrary policies are made because of the asymmetry of information or sources? Regards, K Thanks K. Great question. Principal-agent theory is one way of theorizing accountability relationships drawn from 'new institutional economics'. It is concerned with the relationships between information assymetries, decisions and incentives. It is therefore a little different and narrower than the broader sociological idea of 'agency' to which we refer above. But it is extremely useful for thinking about organizational relationships. I don't think your example of Kenyan government/DFID quite works. In PA theory, the principal 'hires' the agent and requires it to do certain tasks. I don't think the K govt hires DFID exactly - it may almost be the other way around. Where PA theory is more useful in analysing social policy is where a government department hires an NGO to deliver a service on its behalf. There is an excellent article by E Brett in Development and Change (Vol 29, pp269-303, 1993) on this topic which gives a very clear explanation of PA theory and how to apply it in social policy and development. --Davidlewis 11:07, 23 March 2009 (UTC) Human Rights I was doing some reading around human rights and development but I am stuck with a question, I hope some will help me understadn this phenomena... My constitution guarentees me the freedom of speech, it gives me the right to a complete freedom of expression and choice but at the same time it forbids me to participate in any activity that would potentially lead to a conflict in the society. I find it very contradictory and am unable to understand that why can't I as a human being decide what my rights should be and are constitutions drafted with an actual understanding of what rights are? If not, what other alternatives can be possible? All the Best, Bushra I think the answer to your question lies in the idea that the recognition of rights depends on a similar recognition of responsibilities, and one of those is to avoid undermining or damaging the rights of others. So maybe the 'thinking' is that individuals can assert their rights in Pakistan only in so far as they do not cause conflicts which threatens the overall integrity of the society/nation. Of course you and I know that currently the human rights situation in Pakistan is highly problematic. But I do appreciate your concerns on this issue - in many societies, rights are only partially or imperfectly realised. But in my view, they are still worth struggling for! --Davidlewis 11:48, 21 March 2009 (UTC) Word Limits I was wondering if there is an allowed margins on word limits? As in how much can we be under/above the word limit? I asked Lynn Roberts (from Learning Center) during the essay writing session and her answer was +/- 10% is acceptable but it may differ between departments. What is the policy in our dept? Is 10% acceptable without a penalty? Ashima.goyal 17:06, January 3, 2010 (UTC) We are very strict on word limits, I'm afraid - we want you to stick to it, so please don't even think about the 10% issue!!! (The bibliography is not included, only your actual text). We feel quite strongly about this - if we said a 10% margin was ok, then everyone would probably write Dissertations of 11,000 words, not 10,000 words, which would seem to defeat the object of the exercise. So aim for 10% UNDER the world limit for all work, and then you can add a few extra lines at the end without worrying. Remember, 'less is more'!--Davidlewis 16:59, January 5, 2010 (UTC)